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“Good morning, love.” He spoke into the phone, not bothered that she didn’t hear it. Arianna was still asleep. All that mattered was that his heart was in the right place.

Coming to think of it, Marcel was kind of grateful that Elijah took Arianna away from here. Thanks to the move, he could now have a healthy relationship with her and Arianna would never have any reason to believe that her affection for him was a case of Stockholm syndrome. She loved him for who he was.

Pushing the matter to the back of his mind, Marcel prepared himself for the meeting with Eric. Victor had passed the result of their meeting to him and he agreed to talk with him in a confidential location. In one word, Marcel would not know of their meeting place until the last minute. It was a move done to ensure their safety and prevent any sabotage of any kind.

The both of them – he and Victor – dressed formally, although they kept their movement low key. Marcel was not ignorant of Daniel’s devices and since he lost to him at the last minute, his father must already be thinking of creative ways to make his life miserable.

So Marcel was careful he wasn’t being followed and when the location coordinates were finally sent to him, he directed Victor on where to go. It was a Chinese restaurant and when they went in, the manager in charge of the place recognized them and led them to the room Eric selected, and there he was already seated down and awaited him.

The manager shut the door on his way out and Marcel read the atmosphere, he could not sense any murderous intent. He then walked over to Eric who stood up to his feet and thrust his hand out for a handshake.

“Welcome,” He said with his hand out and Marcel enveloped his hand with his. He told him,

“Thank you.”

.....

“Please sit,” Eric gestured and everyone in the room sat down. Just like Marcel who came with Victor, his cousin, and advisor, he came with Jason, his second in command as a backup.

“Let’s have breakfast first before we go into business. I hope you can stomach spicy foods.” Eric said to him.

“Of course,” Marcel answered him with confidence and Victor gave him a pointed look, yet he refused to meet his cousin’s gaze.

A little chili does not scare him. If this was a challenge, he intends not to disappoint Eric. He would prove to him that he was a man too. Although Eric was older and probably much more experienced, Marcel doesn’t plan to lose to him. He was young and capable.

Eric signaled them and in the next minutes, several Chinese cuisines – some he had tasted and some he hadn’t – were placed in front of him. Marcel had to grab the table in front of him to brace himself while putting on a brave smile. He could do this. A little pepper would not kill him, right?

Although it might be seen as old-fashioned, a food taster was available and he took bites from all of the food available to confirm that it was safe to consume – there was no poisoning. This move was done to establish trust between both parties.

Everyone dug into the food and Marcel showed off the mastery of his chopstick. They ran intentional deals and showing cultural appreciation was one way to win over a client, Daniel taught him that. No, all of the men in the room seemed to know their way with chopsticks, so they all ate their food in silence.

Marcel could stomach spicy food but to an extent, he was not exactly a huge fan of it, unlike Eric who swallowed down his spicy noodles as if it was nothing. Like he was immune to the spiciness. At first, Marcel was on par with him, however, he began to slow down, and though the air conditioner was on, sweat formed on his forehead and he was red in the face.

His tongue was on fire but Marcel endured it. Instead, he psyched himself mentally with the saying,

“Pain is a twisted form of pleasure.”

He could endure it.

No, he will endure it.

Sadly a minute later, he could not endure it.

Marcel picked up the glass of water in front of him and swallowed down all of the content and yet, nothing happened. He stopped eating. How could he continue to eat when it felt like his taste buds would be singed forever?

He poured out another glass of water and while he would retain the liquid in his mouth, it was not a great relief and had to pour himself another glass of the cold liquid after a while. But it seems that drenching his burning tongue turned out to be the worst thing he could do.

At this point, Marcel just grabbed the edge of the table tight and endured the spicy heat.

“To cancel out the spicy heat,” Eric began, “You need to balance it with an acid that can help neutralize the molecule’s activity. This means drinking or eating something acidic may also help cool your mouth down,”

He reached out and grabbed the wine on the table and opened it. He poured it into a glass and kept it in front of Marcel.

Marcel looked at the glass and then back at him, asking, “What is this?”

“The wine can provide the relief you need or….”

Marcel narrowed his gaze at him, sensing there was something more to be said.

“Or?”

“You can wait for the burn to generally dissipate in about fifteen minutes. So which one would it be, the easy way or the hard way?”